Pet Food Palatability Evaluation: A Review of Standard Assay Techniques and Interpretation of Results with a Primary Focus on Limitations

Aldrich, Greg; Koppel, Kadri

doi:10.3390/ani5010043

Cited by 67 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Feed preference is a sensory analysis involving physical and chemical mechanisms, including odour, flavour, appearance, size, texture and consistency. Although highly relevant for some pets, such as dogs and cats (Aldrich & Koppel, ), this has been minimally studied in parrots. The present results emphasize that diet processing characteristics can modify some sensory attributes of prepared diets, thus changing the birds’ preference.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feed processing effects on digestibility, palatability, excreta fermentation products and blood parameters in blue‐fronted amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva)^†

Santo

Braos

Kawanami

et al. 2018

Animal Physiology Nutrition

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Captive parrots show a high incidence of obesity and other metabolic disorders due to the consumption of unbalanced diets. Therefore, this study evaluated the digestibility and metabolic effects of transitioning blue‐fronted amazons from a high fat diet (sunflower seeds) to processed diets with three degrees of starch gelatinization (SG). The same feed formulation was processed to obtain pelletized feed (PEL) at 27.1% SG; low‐cooked extruded feed (EXTL) at 81.6% SG; and high‐cooked extruded feed (EXTH) at 98.5% SG. Thirty adult parrots were fed sunflower seeds for 90 days, then were distributed in a completely randomized design with 10 repetitions per treatment, and fed one of the three prepared diets for 160 days. Feed palatability, apparent digestibility, excreta concentrations of volatile fatty acids, lactate and ammonia, initial and final radiographic examinations, blood cell counts and glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and uric acid levels were evaluated. The data were analysed by an analysis of variance and compared by Tukey's test (p < 0.05). Sunflower seed was more digestible than processed feeds (p < 0.05). Diet processing interfered with fat and starch digestibility (p < 0.001), being higher in the PEL than in the EXTH and EXTL respectively. Transitioning from sunflower seeds to balanced diets reduced serum glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol and AST (p < 0.05) and increased red blood cell, haemoglobin, lymphocyte, monocyte and leucocyte counts (p < 0.01). Radiographs indicated a decreased hourglass (p = 0.015) and a reduced heart‐liver ratio after ingesting the processed feeds (p < 0.05). Feed processing did not affect blood cell counts, serum biochemistry or radiographic examinations. In conclusion, parrots preferred the extruded diet and did not require an extensive SG to properly digest the feed. Consuming the processed diets improved the birds’ metabolism and health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feed processing effects on digestibility, palatability, excreta fermentation products and blood parameters in blue‐fronted amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva)^†

Santo

Braos

Kawanami

et al. 2018

Animal Physiology Nutrition

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“…Dogs' food preferences are commonly evaluated using consumption tests, such as palatability tests. Among the different methodologies for measuring sensory perception of food palatability (Bradshaw, Goodwin, Legrand‐Defrétin, & Nott, ; Thombre, ; Van den Bos, Meijer, & Spruijt, ), the two‐bowl consumption test is the most cited in the literature (Aldrich & Koppel, ; Tobie, Péron, & Larose, ). This test consists of a forced‐choice preference test between two foods, in which both foods are presented simultaneously to the animal for a specific amount of time (McArthur, Kelly, Gietzen, & Rogers, ; Rashotte, Foster, & Austin, ; Thombre, ; Tobie et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food preference and olfactory discrimination tests: A complementary approach to understand the drivers of hedonic responses in dogs

Basque

Cambou²,

Péron³

et al. 2018

Journal of Sensory Studies

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Understanding the food preference of animals remains a challenge in sensory science. Here, a complementary approach combining food preference and food odor discrimination tests was applied to dogs as consumers. This approach was designed to distinguish a lack of preferential choice from a lack of discrimination in dogs. Consumption of four pet food products by a taster dog panel was evaluated. First choice and intake ratio results were strongly linked, suggesting that odor perception influenced the dogs' food consumption. Within this test, two products were preferred by the dogs and favored equally. To provide more depth to the interpretation, we used an olfactometer to measure the dogs' discrimination of the four product odors. A panel of dogs, designated the expert panel, was specially trained in olfactory recognition of one of the two equally preferred products. The main results demonstrated that dogs can discriminate products by olfaction and express the same food preference for different products, even if they have different odors. Moreover, the olfactory experiments allowed us to conclude that the differences in intensity among odors did not affect their discrimination. Practical applications The combination of a two‐bowl consumption test and an olfactory discrimination task using a dual‐port olfactometer appears to be a complementary approach that could help clarify the drivers of animals' liking. In dogs, for example, olfaction is thought to play a major role in food preference. Therefore, using an automated olfactometer technique provides an opportunity to control and modulate the odors presented to the animal and further explore the role of olfaction in the discrimination of different odorants. Thus, the proposed method could be useful to measure the influence of odor on dogs' food selection and to discern a real absence of preference from a lack of olfactory discrimination capacity, which is currently an important methodological obstacle to analyzing the results of two‐bowl consumption tests. In addition, this complementary approach could be transferred to further works dealing with the understanding of food preference mechanisms in other species.

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“…The consumption of food is used for testing methods in the industry to evaluate the acceptability/palatability of products (Aldrich & Koppel, ). These include a single‐bowl monadic test, a two‐bowl forced choice test, and operant testing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For nonverbal primates, and companion animal methods that rely upon their motivation to solve a puzzle may provide a clue into liking. Existing tests are easy to operate but have limitations caused by the nature of forced‐choice tests that can potentially alter and (or) cover the true acceptability or palatability of the foods (Aldrich & Koppel, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Preference ranking procedure proposal for dogs: A preliminary study

Smith

Aldrich

et al. 2017

Journal of Sensory Studies

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In the pet food industry, single‐bowl or two‐bowl methods traditionally are used to determine food acceptance or preference by pets. To increase efficiency of preference testing, and to provide more options for preference testing, a preference ranking procedure is proposed. The ranking procedure includes simultaneous presentation of five samples of edible treats. This increases the efficiency and reduces the time of preference testing. A preliminary test of the procedure with 12 beagle dogs was conducted. Each animal was presented with five treats, in an identical, coded rubber puzzle toy, or “Kong.” Five phases were included in the test, each lasted 5 days. Phase 1 included training with commercial treats. Phases 2–4 used lab‐baked treats with five different ingredients in each category (fats, starches, and proteins, respectively) of a base recipe. Phase 5 included testing with commercial foods. The order and time of treat selection by dogs was recorded. Results showed this small sample of animals generally ranked 1–2 flavors above others, indicating that this procedure could be a more efficient method to determine preference than traditional test methods since more samples can be evaluated simultaneously. More research is needed to verify the method. Practical applications The pet food industry could benefit from this preference method in terms of gaining better insights into “liking” and maximizing outcomes with fewer resources than traditional methods require. Instead of evaluating one or two types of food in each test, this method can evaluate up to five different samples, increasing test efficiency. Further, the preference ranking procedure allows for insight into preference information based on direct multiple comparisons of single ingredient aromatics and flavor. These advantages make it imperative to further test the method with larger sets of animals with actual developmental products to determine its helpfulness for decision making in practice during the research and development of products.

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Pet Food Palatability Evaluation: A Review of Standard Assay Techniques and Interpretation of Results with a Primary Focus on Limitations

Cited by 67 publications

References 23 publications

Feed processing effects on digestibility, palatability, excreta fermentation products and blood parameters in blue‐fronted amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva)^†

Feed processing effects on digestibility, palatability, excreta fermentation products and blood parameters in blue‐fronted amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva)^†

Food preference and olfactory discrimination tests: A complementary approach to understand the drivers of hedonic responses in dogs

Preference ranking procedure proposal for dogs: A preliminary study

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Pet Food Palatability Evaluation: A Review of Standard Assay Techniques and Interpretation of Results with a Primary Focus on Limitations

Cited by 67 publications

References 23 publications

Feed processing effects on digestibility, palatability, excreta fermentation products and blood parameters in blue‐fronted amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva)†

Feed processing effects on digestibility, palatability, excreta fermentation products and blood parameters in blue‐fronted amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva)†

Food preference and olfactory discrimination tests: A complementary approach to understand the drivers of hedonic responses in dogs

Preference ranking procedure proposal for dogs: A preliminary study

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Product

Resources

About

Feed processing effects on digestibility, palatability, excreta fermentation products and blood parameters in blue‐fronted amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva)^†

Feed processing effects on digestibility, palatability, excreta fermentation products and blood parameters in blue‐fronted amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva)^†